Pinellas County sells surplus real estate - 2011-05-31

The Church of Scientology was the buyer of five properties located in downtown Clearwater. The land and buildings were sold together in two packages.

Package A contained three adjacent properties with three small buildings, totaling 6,280 square feet on .88 acres of land. The addresses are 305 South Osceola Ave., 311 South Osceola Ave. and 300 South Ft. Harrison Ave.

The purchase price was $1.847 million and equaled the minimum bid established by commissioners in 2010. The county retained land for use to access its cooling system and a drainage easement.

Package B includes six parcels of land currently in use by the Department of Environmental Management. The property at 300 South Garden Ave. houses the air quality division and the administration building is at 512 South Ft. Harrison Ave. The two buildings total 22,880 square feet and 1.37 acres of land.